Pop-Pop vs Grandpapa
by Rosie2009
Summary: When Adam comes over and babysits Mallory in an attempt to spend some quality time with her, Hades comes over. Mallory wants Hades to stay and play, and Adam and Hades end up being launched into a full-on battle of the grandpas. Family fluff and lots of humor. It's a companion piece to "The Bluebirds" and "Piratey Dragon."


"Pop-Pop, come and jump with me!"

Adam's eyes widened as he spotted the girl hopping on the cushions on the couch.

"Now, Mallory, let's not get too crazy," Adam told her, reaching over and grabbing the girl in an attempt to stop her unruly behavior. Mallory giggled and smiled widely at him.

Adam sighed as he returned the grin.

He had wanted to spend some time with just himself and his little granddaughter in hopes of some great family bonding. He was completely unsure of how to interact with a girl- after all, he had a son- but he loved her dearly nonetheless and wanted to find some way to relate to her.

Ben and Mal must have sensed this need, so they headed off to some other part of the castle while Adam stayed at their place to watch Mallory.

Unfortunately for Adam, he was very afraid that he had just got in over his head because this child was seriously wild.

"Mallory, why don't I tell you a story?" Adam asked her. Mallory just shook her head, wriggling out of his grasp in favor of running around the room like the loose cannon that she was.

"No! Let's run!" Mallory told him as she hurried around the sofa in circles. Adam sighed in slight frustration as he tried to conjure up all of his patience.

"Dear, why don't we read a book like you and Gran do?" Adam offered, hoping that she would go for it. Mallory slowed a bit as she considered his suggestion, but she quickly sped up again, continuing in her running around like a crazy person.

"Can't stop, Pop-Pop!" Mallory cried with laughter as she excitedly ran around.

Before Adam could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Mallory immediately paused in her hurrying around and looked at the door in curiosity. Adam furrowed his brow and stood up to go and see who it was.

He opened the door and was completely taken off guard to see standing before him the god of the Underworld himself. Hades had an easy smile on his face when he had first pulled open the door, but it quickly evolved to reserved stoicism as he regarded the former king.

"Hello, Beasty Boy," Hades coldly addressed him, and Adam furrowed his brow in distaste as he narrowly avoided snarling aloud.

"Hello, Hades," Adam practically spat.

"Grandpapa!" Mallory screeched in her excitement as she rushed past Adam, reaching her arms up in a request to be lifted as she hopped in front of Hades. His irritated expression immediately melted away in favor of a loving grin as he scooped up the girl into his arms.

"Hey, Baby-Cakes!" Hades greeted, full of enthusiasm as he squeezed the little girl tightly in his arms.

Adam couldn't help but feel a burning jealousy at the fact that Mallory appeared to be way more excited to see her other grandfather than she was to spend time with him at all.

"What brings you here?" Adam questioned, forcing cordiality in his tone when all he wanted to do was pinch Hades' head off for intruding. Hades lifted his gaze up to the other man's as he smirked.

"Oh, I was just looking for Mal, and I thought I'd check here first since, y'know," Hades shrugged with a snarky expression, "she kind of lives here."

"Grandpapa, come on! Me and you and Pop-Pop can play together!" Mallory told him and if it was possible, Hades' grin grew even wider.

"Of course. Anything you want," Hades replied easily, looking at Adam pointedly as he raised an eyebrow.

"You heard the kid. You gonna let me in?" Hades asked and Adam slowly stepped aside. Hades came through the door and Mallory smiled widely, her focus almost solely upon Hades as her excitement grew.

Hades put Mallory down on the floor and she ran for her bedroom, no doubt about to go and find something for the three of them to play.

When she was out of sight, Hades locked his gaze with Adam's.

"So… You're babysitting today, huh?"

"Yes," Adam responded with an unashamed and unhidden hatred. Hades studied him for a moment before an evil glint came to his eyes as he gestured at Adam.

"Oh, I get it. You're feeling a little insecure in your place as second-rate grandpa," Hades deadpanned, and Adam gaped at him in complete offense.

"I am not insecure. And I am not second-rate," Adam told him in a manner that sounded pitiful even to his own ears. Hades nodded his head.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you have to keep telling yourself."

"Mallory and I have fun together," Adam protested.

"And just what do you two do? Practice etiquette? Look through the old rulebook of ancient kings and queens gone by?" Hades shot at him.

"No, we do lots of things!"

"Like what, you fuddy-duddy?"

"Grandpapa, Pop-Pop, I'm hungry."

"Grab one of the carrots in the bottom of the fridge, sweetie," Hades instructed without looking, preferring to keep his gaze on the other man to gauge his reaction. Adam glanced at her for a short moment before attempting to launch a counterargument.

"I'm a better grandfather than you by default because I'm a good guy as opposed to a villain," Adam angrily told him, making sure to keep his voice low as he leaned in to accentuate his point.

"Beast, I've gotta tell you. You're evil because that hair is a fashion crime of such proportions that if the Isle was still up and running, you'd be thrown in it for torturing everyone's eyes with that stupid haircut," Hades added insult to injury.

"I mean seriously, the shortness of it accentuates your block-shaped head." Adam furrowed his brow, his nostrils flaring as he glared at Hades.

"Now, listen here-"

"Okay, look, buddy, I'm sorry. I went a little too far with that one," Hades apologized, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. Adam paused, completely confused by the sudden admission of regret.

"Y'know, I shouldn't have even brought it up," Hades continued, reach up and clapping Adam's shoulder firmly with a smile.

"And I really think there's no reason for us to be arguing about this," Hades suddenly announced, and Adam couldn't help but eye him skeptically, sure that something had to be coming after this grand show of contriteness.

"Because, after all, who's got 'grand' before their name? Not pointing any fingers here, but one of us has a name that sound like a brand of popsicles," Hades shrugged, and Adam growled deeply under his breath. He knew Hades' sudden kindness was entirely too good to be true.

"She came up with that on her own!" Adam defended or at least attempted to defend himself from Hades' ruthless onslaught.

"All the better. It shows that she thinks I'm 'grand' while you're some frozen sugar on a stick," Hades told him with a smirk, and Adam could practically feel his Beast side's hackles raising as he was nearly at his limit of frustration with the god.

"Grandpapa, Pop-Pop! Guess what?" Adam quickly regained control of his temper and started to bend down to meet the girl before Hades scooped her up into his arms.

"Whatcha got, girl?" Hades asked her and she grinned at the both of them widely as she held up her prize. It was a chocolate chip cookie that she had obviously gotten against her mother's set rules if her evil grin was anything to go by.

"I got a cookie!"

"Were you not supposed to, Mallory?" Adam couldn't help but question, and Hades glared at him in complete irritation for his rude reprimanding. Mallory looked down at her cookie with an almost guilty expression.

"No…"

"Hey, don't worry, sweetheart! Everybody deserves a treat sometimes," Hades assured her with a loving look, and Mallory's smile quickly returned to her face as she offered him a bite.

"Oh, for me? Thank you," Hades expressed, taking a little bite so she'd still have most of it, and he shot a victorious glance at Adam.

"Pop-Pop, do you want a bite, too?" Mallory asked, holding the cookie out to her other grandfather.

"Sure thing, dear," Adam held back the wince to the best of his ability as he hesitantly took a small bit of her cookie, unfortunately where Hades had just taken his share.

Adam chewed it for a few moments before quickly swallowing with a forced grin.

"Tasty, tasty," he told her with a chuckle. Mallory then proceeded to eat the rest of it as Hades held her gently with a self-satisfied grin on his face at the fact that she had offered him some of the cookie first.

"Ooh, Grandpapa, let's show Pop-Pop our music!" Mallory squealed with a wild smile before running for her room where she had stashed her Grandpapa's tambourine.

"Y'know, you could loosen up some with my grandkid," Hades snarled as soon as she was out of sight. Adam growled back nearly animalistically as he raised himself to his full height.

"I will not have you encouraging delinquency in my granddaughter," Adam told him, waving a finger in his face.

"Taking cookies from the cookie jar isn't deviancy, your ancient highness," Hades insulted just before Mallory came into the room.

"Pop-Pop, look at Grandpapa's tambrine!" The both of them immediately straightened and stepped away from one another in an attempt to appear at least a little less at odds with one another.

"Oh, I see it, honey," Adam replied as he knelt down to look at the instrument. Hades forced a happy smile on his face as he bent next to the other man.

"And this is how Grandpapa plays!" Mallory announced, hitting the tambourine on her hip and her hand and sticking her tongue out cutely.

Adam's eyes widened at the movement, considering it way too unnatural for a little princess to performing hoodlum music.

"Now, Mallory, that's not exactly the way a princess plays," Adam instructed.

"Grandpapa lets me do it," Mallory innocently told him, and Adam resisted the urge to growl aloud at the mention of her grandfather on the other side of the family.

Hades simply did a happy little wave at her from his place leaned against the couch watching the scene play out.

"Maybe so, but Grandpapa can be a bit too extreme," he patiently told her, shooting a biting glance at Hades and trying to guide her over to do something else that was much calmer and less insane.

Hades put his hand over his mouth in a mock of being offended and Adam nearly hated him even more.

"Grandpapa and me listen to music all the time and we have lots of fun," Mallory informed, and she started loudly singing a rock and roll song that, quite frankly, completely horrified Adam.

"We will, we will rock you!" Mallory sang loudly, stomping and clapping. Hades nodded his head as he got into the beat.

"Yes, but I have some good music we can listen to," Adam quickly redirected, putting on a record in the player and starting it.

Beautiful, elegant piano music started playing across the room and Mallory's eyes widened as she stared at the player. Hades eyes narrowed as he got a disgusted expression on his face at the sound of the calmness of the music. Adam closed his eyes in enjoyment of the lilting keys.

"Pop-Pop, what is that?!" Mallory exclaimed in a tone that conveyed an unhidden revulsion.

"It's classical, Mallory," Adam calmly told her, swaying calmly to the ballroom music. Mallory furrowed her brow and looked at her Grandpapa.

"He needs a whole lotta help," she quoted, and Hades didn't bother holding back his laugh, knowing that she had learned that line from good ol' Auntie Evie who liked to use it on anyone that she thought was a little off their rocker.

"He needs to not be himself," Hades agreed with a nod and a thumbs-up.

Adam shot Hades a dirty look but turned off his music hesitantly.

"Well, Mallory, what would you like to do?" Adam asked her, starting to feel willing to do anything as long as he could do something that she liked to do.

"Ooh! Let's play keep the prisoner! Me and Uncle Harry and Auntie Uma did that," Mallory proudly informed him. Adam raised his eyebrows in mild shock.

"Um… How do you play keep the prisoner?"

"You tie one person to a tree and you take all their stuff," Mallory explained with an adorable grin. Adam's eyes widened and Hades grinned darkly at the both of them.

"Baby-Cakes, that sounds like a great idea. Let's make Pop-Pop the prisoner," Hades told her with an evil twinkle in his eye as he looked over at the other man.

"Now, let's see if there's something else that we can do just me and you," Adam told her pointedly, glancing at Hades with a barely concealed demand that he leave. Hades simply smiled and looked down at his shoes with an expression that was way too resigned and defeated to be true. Adam watched him carefully.

"Well, I guess I've got to be going. I've got to find your mommy, after all," Hades told Mallory as he turned to go. Mallory suddenly ran after him and latched onto his leg.

"No, Grandpapa! Don't go!" Mallory pleaded, and Hades turned to look at her with a sad expression.

"I have to, Baby-Cakes."

"Can I come with you?" Mallory sweetly asked, and Hades pretended to think for a moment before grinning at her.

"Sure thing. Say bye to Pop-Pop, okay?" Hades told her and as soon as she turned to face Adam, Hades' genuine smile evolved to a smirk at Adam's expense.

"Bye, Pop-Pop! I'm gonna go with Grandpapa to find Mommy," Mallory announced as she hurried over to him and hugged him. Before he even had a chance to return her embrace, she started off toward the door quickly.

"Bye," Adam replied under his breath as the other two left out the door, shutting it behind them firmly.

Adam clenched his jaw, knowing that he needed to find some way to settle this score. Hades could not under any circumstances win this battle of the grandparents.

He furrowed his brow in thought, deeply considering what he could do that would give him the upper hand.

And then the most perfect, wonderful idea came to him and his lips curved upward in a pleased grin. He needed to make a few calls.

…

It had been about a week since Adam had babysat Mallory. And since Hades had so grandly managed to sweep her away and win her over, thereby proving his superiority.

That really was quite possibly one of the sweetest victories that he had ever had the pleasure of attaining. Adam needed to understand that absolutely nothing came between Hades and _his_ granddaughter. Hades couldn't help but exercise that power that he had as her Grandpapa when Adam was there and being forced to watch.

He just loved Mallory so much and he had a hard time sharing her even with her mother. He hadn't forgotten his division of percentages that he had mentally noted when she was first born. Mal got fifty, and he got forty. Evie did have eight and Ben had two, but now they had to divide that ten percent between her aunts and uncles and the other grandparents. Hades wasn't budging on that forty percent, after all.

Putting aside that magnificent show of superiority, Hades was watching her today. It was then that he received quite possibly the strangest phone call that he could have ever had. Adam had called and asked that he bring Mallory down to the backyard of the castle. Hades had hesitantly agreed, more than a little skeptical about what Adam had up his sleeve, but he helped Mallory with her shoes and headed out with his little faerie.

Hades strolled through the lower halls of the castle, holding Mallory's hand as he felt his curiosity growing ever larger. Mallory was skipping along beside him, singing a song to herself.

"Grandpapa, where are we going?" Mallory finally asked after a few moments. Hades looked down at her with a smile and shrugged.

"To the backyard apparently. At least, that's what your Pop-Pop said," Hades replied as they reached the back door.

He immediately paused and opened the door for her, faking a proper bow. She giggled at him, but as soon as she looked out the door her eyes went wide in complete wonder as she gaped at the scene. Hades furrowed his brow and looked outside, quickly finding himself in a state of amazement as well.

There Adam knelt in front of a gigantic playground with continuously flowing slides and an absurdly huge sandpile. There was a big bouncy castle on one side and a blow-up pool of considerable size on the other. And to top it all off, Adam was bent down beside a beautiful white pony with a shiny purple bow tied around its neck.

Mallory stepped out into the grass, marveling at all of it. Hades walked out just behind her, allowing the door to fall shut in his wake.

For perhaps the first time in her life, Mallory was completely and utterly speechless. Her gaze settled on the little pony that Adam was holding onto, and a huge grin lit up her features as she ran forward to look at it closer.

She slowly reached her hand out and petted its soft, velvety fur before taking its bow in her grasp. Mallory then looked at Adam with pure delight and she leaped forward, latching herself around his neck.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Pop-Pop!" Mallory exclaimed and he chuckled, hugging her tightly as he felt emotion rising in his chest.

"You're welcome, Princess," Adam told her with a soft smile.

"Look, Grandpapa, look!" Mallory suddenly cried, hurrying over to Hades and grabbing his much larger hand as she pulled him over so that he was next to Adam who had just now stood up.

Hades smiled absently at her, nodding his head as he addressed her.

"I see it," Hades told her, completely shocked at Adam's sudden gain in their completely unspoken competition.

She looked at the playground once again and squealed excitedly, hopping up and down before hugging Hades' leg tightly.

"I love you, Grandpapa!" She then alternated to Adam, grabbing his leg as well. "I love you, Pop-Pop!" she squealed, and ran in the direction of the sandpile.

Adam and Hades watched her quietly as she hurried away. Adam was puffed up in the midst of his pride at finally besting the god, and Hades was still completely shocked that Adam had actually made it this far.

"Huh. Nice job on the twisty slides," Hades complimented. Adam looked over at him strangely, surprised at the god's niceness.

"Thanks," he expressed. After a few more beats of silence, Hades raised his gaze to the previous king.

"She told me she loved me before she said it to you," Hades told him. Adam furrowed his brow, unimpressed with the other man. Hades shrugged with a defensive expression.

"Just saying."

**A/N: Poor old Adam. There's just no winning for him when Hades is around. I personally believe that they're both wonderful grandfathers in their own ways. I hope you all enjoyed this bit of fluffiness with our sweet little Mallory! :)**


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